Slurry tanker

ABSTRACT

A cargo vessel for handling materials received in the form of a slurry. The cargo tank of the vessel is provided with a dewatering device comprising a series of upstanding conduits having filtering means along the entire height of the wall of the tank to discharge the water from the slurry into the ballast tanks of the vessel, from which it may be discharged by the conventional ballast pumps, if desired.

United States Patent Inventor Hideo Suzuki Yachiyo, Japan Appl. No. 845,162 Filed July 28, 1969 Patented Oct. 19, 1971 Assignee Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering Co.,

' Ltd.

Tokyo, Japan Priority Aug. 5, 1968 Japan 43/55424 SLURRY TANKER 1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 114/73, 137/590, 210/172 Int. Cl B63b 25/02 Field of Search 114/73, 74,

74 R, 5 R; 220/85, 85 R, 85 S; 210/172, 167, 169; 222/564; 137/590 Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-F. K. Yee Att0rneyH0ws0n and Howson ABSTRACT: A cargo vessel for handling materials received in the form of a slurry. The cargo tank of the vessel is provided with a dewatering device comprising a series of upstanding conduits having filtering means along the entire height of the wall of the tank to discharge the water from the slurry into the ballast tanks of the vessel, from which it may be discharged by the conventional ballast pumps, ifdesired.

SLURRY 'IANKER This invention relates to a slurry tanker, more particularly to a tanker suitable for carrying an ore slurry or coal slurry.

Usually iron ore is carried by means of the land carriage from diggings to a harbor and loaded in a cargo ship. However, in the place where there is no harbor near the diggings, it is advantageous to carry the iron ore in slurry condition through a pipeline and to load it directly in the ship. For the convenience of the aftertreating of the iron ore, it is desirable to drain the slurry at sea.

It is an object of this invention to provide a slurry tanker having a draining device for the slurry.

In accordance with this invention, the draining means comprising pipes constructed by permeable members or frames covered by filter members are provided along the inner wall of the tank. Water in the slurry is separated and collected by the draining means in loading or in navigating and discharged outboard or in the ballast tank of the ship.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the slurry tanker in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plane view of the slurry tanker;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the slurry tanker;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the draining pipe;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another type of a draining device; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic vertical section view showing a discharging system.

Referring to FIGS. I to 4, draining pipes 1 comprise frames having a desired shape in section such as round or square, the frames being covered by a filter member 3 as shown in FIG. 4. The filter member is constructed by a suitable permeable member such as a perforated plate, for example made of an unglazed pottery or made of alloy of stainless steel by powder metallurgy, or a wire netting made of stainless steel or bronze according to grading of the slurry. The draining pipes l are secured by band steels 6 to the inner wall of a tank 2 taking the vertical direction. FIG. 5 shows a draining device comprising a frame work 5 provided with the filter member 3, and the frame work being secured to the inner wall of the tank.

Thus, water in the slurry in the tank 2 is drained into the draining pipe 1, and the collected water in the pipe is discharged into a ballast tank 8 through a pipe 7 as shown in FIG. 6. Shutting a remote-controlled valve 9 at a proper time, the water in the slurry is kept in desired quantity. The water collected in the ballast tank 8 is discharged outboard by a ballast pump equipped in the ship.

At a landing place, the cargo which is solidified may be landed by a grab. If there is no grab at the landing place, the cargo is changed into slurry again by adding water and landed by a slurry pump. The draining pipe may be easily substituted by the other draining pipe according to a slurry to be carried.

I claim:

1. A slurry tanker having a cargo tank and a ballast tank comprising draining means consisting of a plurality of upstanding conduits coextensive in height with said tank and disposed at spaced intervals along an inner wall of the cargo tank, said conduits having at least one filter member extending along the length thereof to drain the liquid from the slurry in the tank, and discharging means for liquid connecting said conduits and said ballast tank and having means for regulating the quantity of discharge, said ballast tank having pump means for discharging liquid therefrom. 

1. A slurry tanker having a cargo tank and a ballast tank comprising draining means consisting of a plurality of upstanding conduits coextensive in height with said tank and Disposed at spaced intervals along an inner wall of the cargo tank, said conduits having at least one filter member extending along the length thereof to drain the liquid from the slurry in the tank, and discharging means for liquid connecting said conduits and said ballast tank and having means for regulating the quantity of discharge, said ballast tank having pump means for discharging liquid therefrom. 